Body of missing 42-year-old man found in Delaware River, police say

The death of Darnell Dogan, who had not been seen since he went fishing earlier this week, is being investigated as suspicious.

A police Marine Unit found the body of Darnell Dogan, 42, near the Linden Avenue Boat Ramp at the Delaware River in Northeast Philly on Thursday afternoon. His death is being investigated as suspicious. The photo above is a file photo of the Delaware River in Northeast Philly.
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice

Police found the body of a 42-year-old man in the Delaware River Thursday afternoon and are investigating the death as suspicious.

A police Marine Unit found the body of Darnell Dogan near the Linden Avenue Boat Ramp around 3:30 p.m. after a jet skier spotted him in the water. Dogan was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:20 p.m.


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Dogan was fishing on a boat with other people on Tuesday night going into Wednesday morning, police told CBS Philadelphia. HIs family reported him missing around 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

Investigators say that they spoke to other people who were on the boat with Dogan and plan to follow up with them. Police say that the individuals on the boat never reported him missing or called 911.

The vehicle that Dogan drove to the area was still parked near the water by Linden and Delaware avenues when his body was found. Police have since towed the vehicle and are searching it as part of the investigation.

Dogan's mother, Juanita Johnson, told FOX29: "That's my baby boy. Nothing is gonna fix this, nothing. Not time, none of that. Knowing that my son died doing something that he loved to do and somebody did something to him. It's hard. This is so hard."